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Match Recap: North Mississauga SC 0 - 2 FC London

10/02/2017, 12:00pm EDT

By League1 Ontario staff

Jade Kovacevic (22', 66' pen.) put the icing on the cake for FC London as they defeated North Mississauga SC 2-0 and secured back-to-back League1 Ontario titles (as well as back-to-back Golden Boot awards for Kovacevic).

"It feels incredible," said FC London head coach, Mike Marcoccia.

"At the moment it is surreal that it's all over again, but at the same time it was very, very hard to do this again, and these girls worked really, really hard all year. The other feeling I have right now is just one of reward for all that they have put in."

Jade Kovacevic (Photo: Martin Bazyl)

Kovacevic got on a deflected through ball early in the match, sliding between two defenders to get the first touch and popping it over North Miss keeper, Vanessa Fiore.

Much of the rest of the match was played evenly, with both sides getting attacking opportunities they couldn't put away.

Finally, Kovacevic went on a mazy run through the box before official Joe D'Onofrio adjudged she was taken down from behind by recovering North Miss central back Kira Bertrand. Bertrand was dismissed immediately, leaving the home side with only ten players and a mountain to climb after Kovacevic duly dispatched the spot kick.

(Photo: Martin Bazyl)

North Miss continued to press forward but FC London's defence could not be breached and the defending champions' short game kicked in to gradually dominate possession.

London midfielder Denise Fortin was everywhere for the visitors, breaking up attacks and making simple, efficient usage of the ball, before regularly finding through balls to release the attackers.

Were it not for the phenomenal work by North Miss keeper Fiore, the latter part of the match could have filled with London goals. In spite of the loss, North Miss assistant coach Trevor Bertrand was proud of his side.

Vanessa Fiore (Photo: Martin Bazyl)

"I think we had a wonderful, rather marvelous season," said Bertrand. "This is just the third loss from twenty games and I think it has been a wonderful season and a growing experience for us. We look forward to next season."

"I'm not just happy, I'm elated. To have a young base and a performance like we did tonight, I think it is extremely encouraging."

(Photo: Martin Bazyl Photography)

FC London's head coach Marcoccia reflected on his team's second championship winning season - and a double with the L1 Cup captured in July - and spoke to a few of the defining moments.

"There were a couple important moments in our season," he recalled. "We started off a bit slow and we had two early losses in the season. That was a really big moment for us as we relied on our senior players to get us through a difficult time and be mature about it."

"It's funny, because we had a moment like that last year and it was also the moment that I thought we would win the league. This year it was the same team, same game. We were away at Vaughan and Jade [Kovacevic] scored in the ninety-third minute to win the game. There was just something at that point that made me believe this was the way it was going to finish."

FC London will next play their final match of the season against Darby FC on October 6 at Whitby Soccer Centre, Whitby.